I'm in desperate need of advice..........?

Question

About 2 years ago my partner and i bought a house. I paid £42,000 deposit out of my own money, he paid nothing. The mortgage is in both our names, but the deeds are split 70/30% in my favour. My partner dumped me and has now moved his new pregnant fiance into the house. He's making my life a misery and hardly pays anything toward the house and bills. He won't let me sell the house as he wants to stay there so i can't buy him out either. There is no way he can afford to buy me out, and i don't want to lose the money i've put into the house as my mum left me it when she died a few years ago. I have no idea what to do, and i'm slowly getting worse and worse off money wise as i'm still having to pay the majority of the bills and mortgage. If anyone knows of anything i can do, or anyway out i may have, PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Answer 1

Ok , tomorrow , at least two calls to make first to your local Citizens advice bureau and then to a solicitor, the mortgage is independent of the ownership of the property so all parties to the mortgage are jointly and severally liable for the whole of the loan so if one party defaults then the other gets chased for the whole of the loan.(thus he can effect your credit rating)Therefore you have to try to ensure the loan is paid when due, the CAB/solicitor will tell you how to commence proceedings to force the sale of the home however the costs will end up coming out of you equity.Personally id send the boys round to have a quiet word with him , but that's just me!it might cost you a grand or so but the solicitor should put the fear of god into him if not, come back and tell us.

Answer 2

First of all you say he wont let you sell it. But you have a majority share of the property. You should check what the legal implications of this are but I think the decision to sell would be yours.

Second, you should keep a good accounting of all the expenses of the house. Make a folder and put all the mortgage statements, bills and any other bills related to the house into it. When you take your partner to court he should be responsible for at least 30% of the charges. Any utilities such as gas or electricity he should be paying entirely since he is living there.

Finally there are no shortage of lawyers who would be willing to help you with your problem, for a fee of course. You should do enough research call around and find a competent lawyer and law firm that will help you thru this. Your ex-partner may decide to settle once he realizes that legal action against him is becoming more and more likely.

Answer 3

I would consult a Real Estate Attorney. Take all of your papers in. Thank Goodness you have the Deed split like you have so you'll be getting 70% of the Equity back if not more. Take all your loan papers title insurance and such give him copies so he can go thru to see if things are in shape. You can force a sale and possibly get the extra money he owes if things are right. It will cost some but maybe the attorney can write a letter to your partner and he may sell peaceable when he see's your serious. Thank Goodness you have the Deed Split like you have otherwise if your names were on the deed without you would be looking at 50-50.

Good luck!!!

Answer 4

It sounds like you are in England, so some of what I know, may not apply, though the laws concerning real estate ownership come straight from English Common Law.

You are what is called, Tenants in Common. You have designated the fractional division of the property to 70% for you and 30 % for your partner.

You can sell your 70% regardless of whether they other party likes it or not. It is unlikely that you would be able to do so. It may be possible to find someone to purchase yours and negotiate with him to purchase his portion.

More likely would be that you purchase his fractional part of the ownership.

So that you know, you are only required to maintain the premises to 70% of the costs. He is required to maintain the premises to 30% of the costs.

It is possible, if you have enough money, to begin repairs (a euphemism for improving the property) that would exceed his ability to pay the amounts required.

Since you own 70%, you don't need his permission to do the repairs. You could then force him out of the property by threatening to file against him for damages, but declining to do so if he signs over his portion of the property for the amount due.

Now you may have to throw some money in, say enough to move and find another place to rent, but small change to unitary ownership.

In the end, you will have to contact a lawyer, or is that solicitor in England, if the matter can't be resolved to both party's satisfaction.

Answer 5

Hi There,

I'm sorry to hear that. My advice to you is the following:

1. Have a look at the loan to see who's actually liable for the loan? is it 70/30? If it is you can see if you can talk to the bank and pretty much tell them to change the deed to your name or you may have to default the loan. This works great if the house value is under what you owe the bank.

2. Have you spoken to legal aid? the fact you used pounds in your 42000 figure means you are probaly in the UK somewhere so you may want to see if there is free legal aid for your situation.

Good luck.

Answer 6

I am guessing you two were not married? And it sounds like you live in Europe? Anyways, I would contact a lawyer if I were you because this is not fair or you can offer to buy him out of the house and then sell it, only if this is even a feasible option. But the first thing I would do is contact my lawyer, especially if you were not married.

Answer 7

I think you can force his hand to sell his 30% as you own the larger amount but you really will have to get some advise from a solicitor first.

Answer 8

speak to ur mortgage adviser asap try to get them to put the mortgage in ur name. and sell up if u want to

Answer 9

I think the guy above is right, get a lawyer fast.